Regenerative Viticulture Association: Newly formed organization illustrates the importance of soil health and carbon sequestration to Spanish winegrowers

Following up on the Regenerative Viticulture Symposium he held in June of this year, Miguel Torres of Familia Torres pulled together a group of like-minded winemakers to form the Regenerative Viticulture Association. The organization was formalized on Monday, November 15, 2021. Its goals and objectives are presented in the following chart while the signatories are presented in the photograph following.

Left to right: Eduard Muixach, Partner, AgroAssessor;
Montse Catasús, Oenologist, Familia Torres; Francesc Font,
Founding Partner, AgroAssesor; Miquel Torres, CEO, Familia
Torres; Christian BArbier, Head of Viticulture, Clos Mogador;
Mireia Torres, Director, Jean Leon; and Joan Huguet, co-owner,
Can Feixes. (Source: https://www.viticulturaregenerativa.org
/blog/constitucion-y-presentacion-de-la-asociacion

I will be writing about the proceedings of the July symposium in subsequent posts.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Solminer (Santa Ynez, California): Another organo-biodynamic producer adding Regenerative Organic Certified to its accomplishments

Solminer, a Santa Ynez winery helmed by the husband-and-wife team David and Anna Delaski, was the third Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) awardee and, like Tablas Creek and Troon Vineyard, had gained organic and biodynamic certification prior to embarking on this path. I chatted with Anna via Zoom to gain insight into the estate's ROC journey.

Anna and David Delaski (Source: solminer.com)

Anna is Austrian and, she says, has always had an interest in sustainability in the broad sense. In addition, she has always been a passionate wine drinker. She met her now husband in LA in 2009 and, while traveling around, they fell in love with Santa Barbara. They became even more enamored with the region when they discovered Gruner Veltliner, one of Austria's native grape varieties, growing in the area. 

Their travels in Santa Barbara revealed that, though French varieties dominated, the Austrian varieties that they encountered were thriving. They began to entertain the thought of making Austrian varietal wine in Santa Barbara and brought the fantasy to reality in 2012 with the purchase of a 4-acre property, 2.5 acres of which was planted to Syrah. In that their intended focus was Austrian wines, they had to purchase grapes initially to get their feet on that path. They purchased Gruner and other Austrian varieties which, when combined with the Syrah, allowed them to produce 400 cases in their first vintage.

The property had been farmed conventionally and they sought to change that by pursuing organic certification. In 2016 they bought a 7-acre horse farm which featured compacted soils. They added calcium and compost to build up the soils and planted 2 acres of Blaufrankisch and Gruner Veltliner.

Not being formally trained as winemakers, they sought to improve their winemaking skills by taking the UC Davis course Introduction to Winemaking. They were somewhat disappointed as the focus was on industrial winemaking, rather than the artisanal approach that they were pursuing.

Solminer began practicing biodynamics in 2016. They purchased some sheep and a couple of donkeys, ceased tilling, and began making their own compost. At around this time Steve Clifton became their mentor; they were much more in tune with his intuitive approach.

They are seeking to farm as an entity and minimize external inputs. For example, the use of manure as fertilizer minimizes external fertilizer purchase and transport. They initially applied their preparations to the understory of the vines using a backpack dispenser.

Anna applying preparations using a backpack dispenser
(Source:solminer.com)

One of the keys for Solminer was creating/adding organic matter as food for the soil. Even with these efforts, however, they still experienced a drop in yield in the year after no-till was introduced. The estate was CCOF Organic certified in 2014 and Demeter Biodynamic certified in 2018.

As far as their ROC is concerned, they became interested once they found out that the owner of Patagonia was involved (they knew he was very serious about regeneration). As they looked further into the program, they realized that it covered the things that they had been doing over the last 10 years. So it was a no-brainer; especially as the ROC Administrators make it so easy to come onboard.

They met the ROC requirements at the Silver level. The Social Welfare Pillar was hardest for them because they do most of the work themselves and when they do bring on workers at harvest, they contract through a middleman. 

This is a great program, according to Anna, for a larger company seeking to make the transition from conventional farming. Solminer, she says, may be too small an entity for it.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

The Romans and wine: Taking a good thing and making it better

The Romans possessed an exceptional capacity for taking "good things" and making them better and, according to Professor Elizabeth Lev, this characteristic was manifested in spades in the wine world.

The Greeks were responsible for the creation of the wine culture in Italy. They named the southern portion of the peninsula Oenetria -- "the land of the tamed vines", according to Professor Lev. They also brought some of their native varieties to Italy. Aglianico, for example, is widely held to be a Greek transplant, with the Italian name being a transformation of Hellenistico (Greece was known as Hellas).

The Romans did not get involved in serious wine drinking until about the 3rd century when they developed a bread culture. Prior to this period, the main Roman dish was a porridge-like concoction called puls, which was served during cena, the main meal of the day. Adoption of bread-based meals began in the 3rd century and with it the rise of bakeries and wine drinking.

The Greeks had historically grown their grapes along the ground or trained in trees. The Romans developed the Pergola which lifted the vine off the ground, allowing greater access to the sun for all parts of the berry as well as allowing wind to dry out the vines after rainfall.

The Greeks and Egyptians had historically trod their grapes to extract the juice. The Romans adopted this practice but also added mechanical means of pressing the juice from the grapes.

The Romans  were the first to distinguish between first and subsequent pressings with the third press set aside and, in many cases, given to the slaves.

The Romans were also the first to (Professor Lev):

• Understand vintage differential
• Serve wine in glassware
• Work on wine storage (both in terms of where and length).

The Romans also preferred white wines to red with Livia Augusta attributing her long life to a daily tipple of Pucinum, a forerunner to today's Prosecco.

The most famous of the Roman wines was Falernian, a sweet, high-alcohol, late-harvested wine. According to Professor Lev, this wine was made from the Aglianico grape but another source claims that it was made from Falanghina while two others give that honor to the Aminean grape. This wine was highly prized and priced. Professor Lev spoke of the Opimian vintage of 121BC which was served at a Julius Caesar banquet in 60BC.

Wines for the masses were flavored with chalk, seawater, honey, etc. The wines served to aristocrats were first boiled-down in lead-lined pots, the process concentrating the wine by 1/3 or as much as 1/2, depending on the preference. Boiling in the lead added a specific sweetness to the wine but also poisoned the drinkers. Gout and dementia are symptoms of lead consumption, conditions manifested in many of the Roman rulers of this period.

By 50AD, Romans were consuming an average of one bottle of wine per person per day. The Vesuvius eruption created a major secondary crisis in that it took out a significant portion of the Empire's best vines. This led to a panic in 79AD where folks were ripping out grain in order to plant vines. 

Unlike the Greeks, the Romans were far less interested in moderation. And this extended to their praise of the beverage. Romans loved to "talk, write, and wax poetic" about growing grapes and drinking wine. Major historical figures such as Cato, Horus, and Pliny the Elder have all contributed to the body of work from this period.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Troon Vineyard (Applegate Valley, Oregon): Regenerative Organic Certified

Craig Camp utilized the structure imposed by the requirements for USDA and Demeter Biodynamic certifications to transform Troon Vineyard from a disease-ravaged, underperforming vineyard to one that was reborn, regenerated, rejuvenated, and recreated. But, while he was enamored with the success afforded by the application of those programs, there were some things that were of concern:

• The USDA Organic certification, in his view, had been largely taken over by industrial organic farms
• USDA allows hydroponic agriculture (organic without soil is a "head-scratcher" for him)
• Many animals on organic-certified farms, while in better condition than animals residing in feed lots, do not live in humane conditions
• He is less-than-comfortable with Rudolf Steiner and the Anthroposocial side of biodynamics.

These concerns were some of the accelerants that pushed Craig to seek certification under the new Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) program. According to Craig, "Regenerative Organic Certified excites me as it incorporates all the things I find important about the Organic and Biodynamic certifications while also resolving my concerns with both" (Wine Camp). The program:

• Includes an essential word -- Regenerative
• Combines the restrictive nature (what you can't do) of organic certification with the proactive, probiotic nature of biodynamics, thus creating a more complex structure for rebuilding soil
• Adds social programs as a cornerstone, bringing an important element to the certification process
• Adds animal welfare as an important component.

Troon Vineyard was eventually awarded ROC at the Silver Level, subsequent to a Regenerative Organic Alliance assessment of its farming program as it relates to Soil Health and Land Management, Animal Welfare, and Social Welfare. The information following is gleaned from an interview with Craig Camp (Troon's GM) and Garett Long (its Director of Agriculture).

Soil Health and Land Management

Possession of Organic and Biodynamic certifications meant that Troon easily met the ROC minimum entry requirements while also simultaneously vaulting well down the road to ROC certification. Troon Vineyard regenerative-relevant practices which were not previously discussed include:

• Agroforestry -- fruit production in the orchard block (some perennials, some annuals), trees on the farm (sycamore, oak, redwood), and incorporation of trees around the pond habitat
• Increasing biodiversity by managing the farm to integrate wild animals. According to Garett, keeping the overall health of the ecosystem in balance will keep the pest population in check
• Controlling invasive species -- the two big ones are Yellow Star Thistle and Foxtail Weed. They utilize animals as much as they can and set fires in some areas.

The Gold Level ROC requires no-till for vineyard floor management. Troon is moving towards no-till as quickly as they can with the major impediment being the Red Blotch virus infection of older vineyard blocks. There is some concern that no-till in the older vineyards would encourage leafhopper populations with the potential for proliferation and spread to the newer blocks (The linkage between leafhoppers and Red Blotch virus is not definitive). The approach that Troon is using in the interim is tilling every other row and mowing.

Unlike the other certification systems, ROC seeks measurement data to show that programmatic requirements are being met. Gartet pointed out that ROC requires both in-field and lab testing. For example, soil may be tested for density and texture. Baseline samples are taken from three different parts of the farm and sent to the lab for testing. The samples must include GPS coordinates and multiple sub-samples as well as a composite.

Troon Vineyard will be working on a number of initiatives going forward:

• No-till drill
• Integration of animals into the environment
• Rotational grazing
• Development of a vegetable garden
• Increasing the number of perennials
• Biochar
• Moving to solar/wind power on the farm
• Moving to electric farm vehicles
• Sourcing wine bottles from within a 400-mile radius
• Ceasing the use of capsules on wine bottles
• Diam corks

Animal Welfare

Troon needs to be certified for animal welfare as it has sheep, chickens, and dogs. The requirements are much simpler, however, as the meat is not sold. The eggs are sold so the chickens have to meet all organic standards.

Social Welfare

In Craig's view, Social Welfare certifying organizations "do not know what to do with the small farm" (this sentiment, by the way, is shared by the folks at Tablas Creek). Troon Vineyard sought Fair Trade certification but they had no relevant programs (they are tuned to large-scale outfits). Troon therefore went through the ROC Silver with a specially modified program. 

The Regenerative Organic Alliance has heard the complaints in this area and is working with Equitable Food Initiative to design a program that is relevant for the small farmer.

Where Tablas Creek had run up on the living-wage rocks, Troon did not have such a problem. Everyone working at Troon is an employee and is fairly well compensated.

Craig's Thoughts on the ROC

Craig thinks that the framework can be applied to a broad range of farming philosophies and can be used either as a farming framework or to build the culture of the company. 

Craig is very interested in working to convert a broader range of people to this type of farming. To that end, he will help to provide leadership on the issue within the farming community by giving talks, hosting farm tours, and hosting farm-to-table dinners. Troon has set aside a Biodynamic area on the property to entice visitors to walk around the farm. He hopes that their actions will serve as a model for farm and agricultural producers.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Salvo Foti's Vigna Caselle (Milo, Mt. Etna): The estate and its wines

In the middle of tasting a Salvo Foti Etna Bianco Superiore I had a question and sent a quick query over to resident Mt Etna wine experts Benjamin North Spencer and Brandon Tokash. Brandon's response reminded me that while I had covered Aeris Vineyard (the Foti-Harvey joint venture) in great detail, I had not so treated the Foti-owned (and neighboring) Vigna Caselle. I rectify that oversight in this post.

A visit with Salvo was the first thing on our Saturday morning agenda so Brandon picked me up in Linguaglossa bright and early for our trip out to our meeting point at Vigna Caselle, just west of Milo.

We arrived at our destination but there were no signs of humanity. Brandon opened the gate and we drove on into the compound. We looked around, calling out all along, but raised no one. Brandon got on the phone and called Salvo and, lo and behold, they were in the vineyard across the street, half a mile away and 50 meters up.

We were in Vigna Caselle, a Salvo Foti property, while they were in Vigna Aeris, the Salvo Foti - Kevin Harvey joint venture. The two properties are separated by a street. We started out in their direction, lifting a pound of volcanic sand with each step, but an exit point from our enclosure was not readily apparent. So we placed another call to Salvo and he said ok, they would come down to us. Brandon is not a guy who can sit still, however, so he continued to poke around and eventually found a gate which provided egress. 

On our way back from Aeris, Brandon, Salvo's son Simone, Linda and I walked back through Vigna Caselle on our way to the Palmento for our tasting.

This vineyard, as explained by Salvo, lies between the mountain and the sea and the warm air from the latter meets with the cold air from the former over Milo with the result being significant rainfall (average 1500mm/year) over the entire growing area. In addition to the rain, growers have to contend with year-round winds which can attain speeds of as much as 50 miles/hour.

There are beneficial aspects to the winds however. Moisture dries out rapidly, keeping vine diseases at bay. As a result, the vineyard makes it through the growing season with only sulfur and copper sprays. In addition, the sea and wind combine to imbue the Carricante grown on this side of the mountain with a saltiness that is not evident in Carricantes grown on the north face.

The soil is sandy and of volcanic origin with a substantial portion of ripiddu (lapilli and eruptive pumice) intermixed with red soils from the Sahara Desert deposited here by the aforementioned winds. The sandy soils drain rapidly, forcing the roots to dig deep in search of moisture and nutrients. 

The characteristics of the vineyard are illustrated in the chart below.

The Wines

As regards production, all three of the estate's wines undergo direct pressing of the whole grapes with static and natural decantation of the must for 30 hours. The Palmento Caselle and Aurora are both fermented in stainless teel stanks for 15 to 20 days while the VignadiMilo is fermented for 13 to 15 days in 2500L wooden barrels. Native yeasts are added to facilitate fermentation. The wines are aged in fermentation-similar vessels, 6 moths for the stainless steel cadre, 12 months for the VignadiMilo. The Palmento Caselle and VignadiMilo are racked five times while the Aurora is racked three times. Small doses of sulfur are added at fermentation and bottling

I have tasted all three of the wines produced at this estate: two during the course of a visit there, and the third much more recently. For the visit, the tasting group was comprised of Salvo, his son Simone, Brandon Tokash, Lidia Rizzo, a visiting female winemaker, and the author.

Salvo Foti and Author (Picture credit Lidia Rizzo)

Simone, Salvo, Lidia, Brandon, and the
visiting winemaker (L to R)

We started out with a 2014 Aurora Etna Bianco Superiore, a blend of 90% Carricante and 10% Minella. Slate, salinity, and eye-popping acidity. Salvo mentioned that this bottle had been opened for a week and offered to open a new one for comparison purposes. We did not object. The new bottle exhibited the same characteristics but with greater freshness.

VignadiMilo 2014 was matured for one year in stainless steel and then racked into large wooden barrels for further refinement. This wine was fresh to go along with a salinity and slatey minerality.

I tasted two bottles of the 2016 Palmento Caselle during the course of this week. The first was oxidized but the second was sublime. Elegance on both the nose and palate. Lime, herbs, salinity, and pepper spice on the nose. Faded lime and a butterfly presence on the palate. A whisper of a wine. Salinity and acidity present but muted. Slightly bitter finish. Even more haunting on the second day.

Great wines. I expect no less from Salvo Foti.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Troon Vineyard (Applegate Valley AVA, Oregon): The road to the Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) door

As was the case for the first winery to attain Regenerative Organic certification -- Tablas Creek -- Troon Vineyard, the second winery to claim that honor, is organic- and biodynamic-certified and is focused on wines made from Rhone varieties. Their life experiences, however, have been markedly different. As a precursor to discussing Troon's experience with the Regenerative Organic certification process, I describe herein the trodden path. Information sources for this blog post are an interview conducted with Craig Camp, the enterprise General Manager, and Garett Long, its Director of Agriculture, as well as Craig's elevated musings in his blog Wine Camp.

I have known Craig for many a year now, having first met him at the 2012 Oregon Wine Bloggers Conference and then interacting with him at several subsequent industry events and through his sojourn as General Manager of Cornerstone Winery. Craig is a warm, giving, insightful, cerebral observer of the wine scene who uses social media to great effect. Craig's focus on soil quality and healthful wines have been driving forces all along his career, with organic, biodynamic, and regenerative certifications at Troon Vineyards the proof in the pudding. 

Troon Vineyard is located in the Applegate Valley AVA, a location whose modern history begins in 1972 with Dick Troon's planting of the forerunner of today's estate. The AVA designation was awarded in 2000. The AVAs locale is shown in the chart below.

High-Level view of Troon Vineyards
(Source: weinlagen-info.de)

According to Craig, Troon was an old-school farm with great unrealized potential. Dick eventually sold the farm to the Martin Family and, somewhere along the way it was divided, into the East and West Ranches (separate owners) with the winery attached to the West Ranch. Craig left Napa to manage the ranch and winery.

The initial plan was for Craig to whip the enterprise into shape in preparation for a sale but he saw the potential and initiated a plan to rejuvenate the soils by "going cold turkey" for organic certification. The then owner was not interested in extensive efforts to upgrade the vineyard and it was not until the property was bought by the Whites, and reunited with the previously hived-off portion, that Craig got a sympathetic ear, and the associated investment, to begin rehabilitation of the lands. And Biodynamic farming, according to Craig, provided the framework for moving the vineyard forward.

Writing in his blog, Craig noted that he was drawn to biodynamics for two reasons:

First, I had tasted too many excellent wines made biodynamically and I aspired to make wines with that kind of life and energy. I wanted to make better wine and was convinced this was the way to achieve that goal. Second, was the focus in biodynamics on rebuilding soil microbiome through a proactive series of probiotic applications based around compost, compost teas and other fermented applications. I believed that the tenets of biodynamics created an ideal framework to rebuild our soils and indeed they did at Troon Vineyard. As with almost every biodynamic winegrower I know, I was drawn to the regenerative farming concepts of biodynamics, but was less comfortable with Rudolf Steiner and the Anthroposocial side of biodynamics.

The steps taken along the biodynamic path are laid out in the following chart.

The compost program has an area 1 acre in size devoted to it and will eventually host four piles. The organic manure is obtained from neighboring Noble Family Organic Dairy while the organic hay is obtained from another neighbor.

The investments from the owners were necessary to set Troon Vineyard on its current path but Craig also highlights the addition of Nate Wall (Winemaker), Andrew Breedy (Biodynamic Consultant), and Jason Cole (Viticultural Consultant). More recently Garett Long has been added as Director of Agriculture with responsibility for the Farming, Biodynamic, and Regenerative programs.

Given the diseased nature of the vineyard, Craig had determined that a complete replant was in order. The plan, and its implementation are shown in the chart below. They are currently 2/3 of the way to completion but the soil revitalization effort has been so successful that even the remaining diseased vines are producing high-quality fruit.

In terms of vineyard floor management, Troon is moving towards no-till as quickly as they can with the major impediment being the Red Blotch virus in place in the older vineyard blocks. There is some concern that no-till in the older vineyards would encourage leafhopper populations with the potential for their proliferation and spread to the newer blocks (The linkage between leafhoppers and Red Blotch virus is not definitive but ... why take the chance). The approach that Troon is using in the interim is tilling every other row and mowing.

In Craig's view, and as demonstrated in his writings, he was practicing Regenerative agriculture. And then along came this program with that exact title -- Regenerative Organic Certified. His interest was more than piqued.

***********************************************************************************************************

"The Regenerative Organic Certification excites me as it incorporates all the things I find important about the Organic and Biodynamic Certifications while also resolving my concerns with both." So said Craig in his blog and we will explore this topic further in an upcoming post.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Agroforestry's potential impacts in vineyard integrated pest management efforts

In her 2021 Master's Thesis, Katherine Favor stipulated that "Agroforestry can benefit vineyards in many ways, both in terms of the above- and below-ground services that it provides to vineyard ecosystems. Agroforestry has been shown to affect below-ground parameters in vineyards positively by increasing drought resistance, reducing erosion, building organic matter, bettering soil structure, and improving vine rooting capability" and above-ground parameters by "... reducing pest and disease pressure, preventing wind damage and erosion, increasing stomatal aperture and leaf area, protecting against heat stress, and protecting against frost."

I have previously explored the aforementioned  below-ground services (water parameters, nutritional parameters, and grapevine rooting patterns) and now turn my attention to the above-ground services, beginning with pest and disease pressure.

Favor posits increasing vineyard pest and disease pressure (see below) and a significant role 

for agroforestry in combating the threat. Trees in the vineyard, she says, have the potential to reduce wind speeds (with impacts on insect, viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogen pressure), increase associated biodiversity (reducing dependence on chemical pesticides), and facilitating precision pesticide applications.

Improved Management of Insect Pests

As it relates to management of pests, many studies have shown that locating vineyards in close proximity to surrounding woody vegetation (surrounding biodiversity) or incorporating trees into vineyards (planned biodiversity) significantly reduces insect pest pressure. Agroforestry can also promote insect control through the provision of habitats for insectivorous animals such as bats.

The above benefits are offset somewhat by studies which show that windbreaks can increase the concentration of pest insects in downwind areas (flying insects prefer to settle in areas where wind speeds are lower than their flight speeds) but, overall, "the benefits of incorporating trees appear to outweigh their disadvantages" (Favor).

Viruses and Bacteria

There are 70 known virus species and three major bacterial diseases that can affect grapevines; and many of these are spread by insect vectors. There are no specific studies related to the impact of agroforestry systems on viruses and bacteria.

Improved Management Of Fungal Diseases

Fungal infections in vineyards is largely dependent on light, temperature, and humidity, factors which can all be modified by the presence of trees (Favor). For example, tree shade can reduce both the amount of heat and UV light reaching grapevines, with the potential for increased fungal development. No specific studies have been done in this area, however.

Powdery mildew is inhibited by high light intensity and enhanced under shade conditions; intercropping vines with trees, then, potentially increases the risk of powdery mildew infection. The potential for powdery mildew reduces with decreasing vigor of the vine, a situation that would occur if the vines and trees were in competition for resources.

Precision Pesticide Application

Windbreaks have been shown to reduce pesticide drift by between 80 and 90%, allowing for more precise timing of pesticide application at optimal levels even in the case of adverse wind speeds.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Biochar testing and use in Tablas Creek's Regenerative Farming practices

Tablas Creek has a nascent Biochar study program whose testing regime extends beyond those recounted in my prior writings. The Tablas Creek Biochar experience was uncovered partly through posts on its world-class blog (Tablas Creek Blog) and partly during the course of my interview with Jordan Lonborg, the estate's Viticulturist.  I visit Tablas Creek's testing and use of Biochar in this, my final post on Tablas Creek's Regenerative Organic Certified quest.

Biochar is a charcoal-like substance resulting from burning organic and forestry waste at high temperature (450 - 750 degrees C) in an oxygen-free environment -- a process called pyrolysis. During pyrolysis, the organic material is converted into biochar (a stable form of carbon that cannot easily escape into the atmosphere), biofuels (such as bio-oil and synthetic gas), and residual heat. The technology, its benefits and disadvantages, and its applications are discussed here.

Tablas Creek ran a trial which incorporated 10 tons of biochar into other materials in order to determine the impact of its use on crop growth. The materials and conditions are illustrated below. The only external inputs in this test were the biochar and the cover-crop seeds. The compost was made on the property and the manure was the result of three-days of effort (in an enclosed space) by the estate's sheep herd which had been fed with feed harvested from the property.

As illustrated above, the cover crops were "happy in all rows" but the biochar-compost mix (isolated by the red border) had a "cover crop that was considerably taller than the rest of the blocks."

In the blog, Jordan wrote both about the simplest application of biochar for small producers as well as Tablas Creek's plans in the area. In terms of the small producer, Jordan recommends placing the biomass (in their case grapevine prunings, fallen logs, and brush) into a receptacle and lighting it in such a manner that the material burns from top to bottom. The top-to-bottom burning allows (Lonborg):

• Gases in the biomass beneath the fire to combust and burn off
• Almost all the carbon is left behind
• If done properly, very little CO₂ is released into the atmosphere
• Residual of a nearly pure form of carbon (biochar).

Jordan is a proponent of the onsite production of biochar as a viable alternative to burn piles which pollute the air and release "massive amounts" of CO₂ into the atmosphere. As far as Tablas Creek's plans were concerned:

• They wanted to replace purchased biochar with biochar produced in a small kiln which would be designed and deployed on property
• Canes not used in the composting process would be used as feedstock for the biochar program; as would be any wood collected on the property
• Any biochar produced on the property would be incorporated into the compost.

During the course of our discussion, I queried Jordan as to the biochar state of play at Tablas Creek. He indicated that they were creating biochar both in a pit and a kiln, the latter a repurposed 1000-gallon wine tank. They are still in the process of figuring out the best materials for use as biomass as well as the best sources of those materials. He has arrived at the conclusion that canes are the best for them but also recognizes that uniformity of size of input materials is key to maximizing the amount of material produced. The kiln allows them to burn deeper into the season as well as the capability of a terminate-on-demand feature with the attachment of a water source.

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While biochar figures prominently in the Regenerative Agriculture literature (and maybe even in some early ROC writings), it is not directly mentioned in the current ROC specifications. It goes unmentioned in both the major Regenerative Practices and the sub-category Other Regenerative Practices. It could be tangentially referenced in the practice described as Recycling of Onsite Biomass or in the following note at the base of the Other Regenerative Practices category: "Producers may use the ROSP to propose site-specific regenerative practices successfully implemented in their unique location and will be approved on a case-by-case basis."

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Tablas Creek Vineyards: The road from Demeter-Certified to Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC)

Pioneering is in the DNA of Tablas Creek Vineyard -- when its founders saw the opportunity to lead with Rhone varieties in California's Mediterranean climate, they seized it -- so when the opportunity to pilot the formative Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) program arose, management seized it. The organization is currently positioned at the mid-level (Silver) of ROCs three-tiered schema and I am in the process of retrospectively documenting that journey. My primary sources of information for this effort were Jason Haas, Tablas Creek's Partner and General Manager, and Jordan Lonborg, the estate's Viticulturist.

The first spark of Tablas Creek's involvement in Regenerative Agriculture was lit at a wine and lamb dinner hosted by the estate. One of the attendees was the Patagonia founder (he is heavily involved in the Regenerative cause) who, according to Jason, buttonholed Neil (the Tablas Creek winemaker) for the entire evening talking about Regenerative Agriculture.

By this time, the ROC pilot was underway but the winery entrant dropped out, prompting a search for a replacement. Elizabeth Whitlow, Executive Director of the Regenerative Organic Alliance placed a call to Jason inviting the estate's participation. That phone call kicked off the process illustrated below.

After an initial review, Tablas Creek responded positively to the invitation. According to Jason, they found the program attractive because:

• It separated the soil health and biodiversity pieces from the "mystical" elements of biodynamics
• It was more measurable. It was not enough to say that you were capturing carbon in the soil -- you had to measure it
• It forced them to take "a more big-picture look" at what they were doing in areas such as resource-use reduction and animal and human welfare (It was not just about wine and soil)
• They had to be a lot more intentional about their reporting.

Soil Health and Land Management

The Tablas Creek baseline was detailed in a prior post. The estate's prior work in organics and biodynamics meant a fairly tight mapping to the Soil Health and Land Management pillar requirements of the ROC; except for one case. The one area that was the source of extensive (ongoing) discussion was the tillage requirement. 

Organic farming allows for conservation tillage but the ROC specification calls for minimal soil disturbance -- in essence, no-till. The conflict is illustrated in the chart below.

Tablas Creek tills its dry-farmed blocks. According to Jordan, 

Tillage in the dry-farmed blocks is crucial due to the high clay content in our soil. Without some sort of soil disruption (as the soils dry out after the winter rains) large, deep cracks form, allowing precious moisture to evaporate into the atmosphere. We create what is known as a dust mulch layer by breaking up the top 3 to 4 inches of soil into finer particle sizes thus preventing any form of shrinking.

Tablas Creek has been given a temporary variance in the area but, according to Jason, this is one of the items that is preventing their ascension to ROC Gold. "We've been going back and forth with the certifier to make the case that, in an arid climate, there are certain sorts of tillage that are beneficial because they create a dust mulch layer and our data show that we are still adding as much carbon to the soil as we do in no-till blocks."

Regenerative farming is focused on getting carbon fixed in the soil and the farm is definitely a part of the solution. This focus, however, should not deflect the estate from examining the other contributors to its total carbon footprint; items such as renewables, packaging, transport, and sourcing of inputs (Jason).

Measurement and Testing

There is an annual testing regime which looks at organic and biodynamic practices. There is also testing as it relates to carbon in the soil with an emphais on improvements in cropped areas. Testing of soil samples are required every three years with Tablas Creek's next test due in 2023.

Animal Welfare

No gaps here. They picked up an additional certification and are now Animal-Welfare-approved.

Social Welfare

What separates ROC from most other certification programs is its Social Welfare pillar and the work in this area seems to have been one of the most challenging, meaningful, and fulfilling parts of the exercise for the folks at Tablas Creek. 

According to Jordan, there are maybe three organizations in the country that do third-party certification for social welfare but they only deal with large organizations. Tablas Creek eventually set up a training program with the Equitable Food Initiative -- a group seeking to ensure the social welfare of farm workers -- in an attempt to get at the social welfare gaps. Management and workers participated in a week of intensive training to include team-building, communications, and problem-solving skills. 

The training showed that communications was the biggest gap at Tablas Creek. The estate had a top-down management approach with workers assigned tasks without relevant knowledge as to the broader implications and impacts of the effort. A lot of the workers have been there 10 - 15 years and are in possession of knowledge that is not being leveraged for the good of the estate.

To address this gap, Tablas Creek established weekly round-table meetings which have empowered the workers and given them a newfound sense of ownership and responsibility. Jordan has seen a lot of good coming out of this process:

• Educating the workers as to their rights on the property and as farm workers
• Educating them on basic human rights
• Commitment to a living wage based on your geographic area (Tablas Creek is investigating).

The living wage is the second area that Tablas Creek needs to successfully address in order to be classified Gold. According to Jason there has been "a surprise increase in the living wage calculation beyond what it was last year" and that has the potential, if implemented, "to add some $150,000 to our labor costs."

The Social Welfare pillar "brought it home" for Jordan. In his view this kind of a look was long past due as exploitation of the farm worker is the "dark side" of agriculture; ROC addresses that. In addition, with the frameworks they have put in place, ideas now come from all parts of the company.

According to Jason, this overall exercise has yielded very little in terms of soil health and wine profile, given where they are in those regards. Where it has been significant has been in a recognition of the farmworker

• It has provided a new framework for crew management ,with weekly round table meetings (and these meetings have yielded benefits)
• The team members feel a sense of ownership and there is more of a relationship
• Management has had to be cognizant of the team-building required to support a flatter organization.

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Tablas Creek has no regrets about embarking on this journey. Rather, they are happy and encouraged at the way things have played out and are giving advice to interested farms. ROC is in a good place and Tablas Creek will contribute in any way that they can to make sure that it stays that way.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Regenerative Agriculture and the Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) program

The below-illustrated certification is held by three wineries on the planet: Tablas Creek , Troon Vineyards and Solminer Wine Company. I discuss the long arc to the underlying farming system -- and provide a high-level view of the program -- in this post.

Conventional Agriculture

Conventional agriculture has been instrumental in feeding a growing human population; much more so with the mechanization and synthetic fertilizer advances of the last century. But, as shown in the chart below, this approach had some deleterious effects on the environment and fueled the search for alternatives that began early in the 20th century. The results of these searches are combined in the chart below under the rubric "Organo-Regenerative Farming Practices."

Organic Agriculture

The first movement away from conventional agriculture began in the 1920s in reaction to ecological and soil-related issues (Doring, et al.*):

... acidification of soils, loss of soil structure, soil fatigue, decrease of seed and food quality, and increases in plant and animal diseases were attributed to the chemical-technical intensification of agriculture. In addition, yield levels in Germany decreased drastically in the 1920s in comparison to the years before World War I, even though the use of mineral fertilizers increased.

This early movement toward organic farming focused on improved soil fertility and sustainability while reducing mineral-fertilizer use and producing high-quality crops. 

The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization defines organic farming as (Doring, et al.*):

... a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agroecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It emphasizes the use of management practices in preference to the use of off-farm inputs ... This is accomplished by using, where possible, agronomic, biological, and mechanical methods, as opposed to using synthetic materials, to fulfill any specific function within the system.

The Rodale Institute defines organic agriculture as:

... a production system that regenerates the health of soils, ecosystems and people wherein, in opposition to the conventional approach, the farmer depends on natural processes, biodiversity and local-condition cycles to provide plant nutrition and fight pests and weeds. 

But the organization does not see the farmer as only being involved with avoidance and substitution tactics; they are also engaged in proactive steps -- crop rotation, composted matter, green manure crops -- to improve soil health.

The table below captures the practices encompassed within organic agriculture.

Table 1. Organic Management Practices

Discipline	Practice	Action	Benefits
Soil Management	Cover crops	Planted between rows	Protects soil from erosion  Add or scavenge nutrients, as desired Alleviate compaction Improve soil structure Helps to smother weeds and control pests and diseases Attract beneficial arthropods Enhance water-holding capacity of the soil Increase biodiversity
	Crop rotation	Different crops differentially on the same plot of land	Improve soil health Optimize nutrients in the soil Combat pest and weed pressures
	Compost	Aerobic combination of traditional waste applied to soil	Reduces weeds and plant disease organisms Provides extra water-holding capacity Promotes the slow release of nitrogen Enhances the plant’s ability to fight off disease
	Organic No-Till	Small-Scale Farmers: hoes and rakes Large Farmers: Roller-Crimper	- Cover crops cut and left on the ground, forms thick mulch that suffocates weeds
Pest Management	Healthy soils	Prevention	Create strong plants that are resistant to pest pressure Encourage populations of natural predators and beneficial insects
	Crop selection	Select pest-resistant varieties of crops
	Pheremones	Disturb pest-mating cycles
	Trapping
	Targeted sprays	Last resort Organic-approved pesticides

Biodynamic Farming

Biodynamic farming, founded in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner, was one of the first movements towards organic agriculture. It is (Doring, et al.) "... a holistic agricultural system based on respect for the spiritual dimension of the living and inorganic environment." 

Biodynamic agriculture is, for the most part, the organic agricultural system with extensions supporting application of specific biodynamic preparations -- said to stimulate soil nutrient cycling, promote crop photosynthetic activity, and transform compost -- along with adherence to the lunar calendar for certain agricultural activities. It should, ideally, be practiced on mixed farms -- including crops and livestock -- to meet Steiner's requirement of the farm as an organism.

Table 2. Main ingredients of the biodynamic preparations 500 to 507 (Source: Doring, et al.)

Preparation #	Designation	Main Ingredient	Use
500	Horn manure	Cow manure	Field spray
501	Horn silica	Finely ground quartz silica	Field spray
502	Yarrow	Yarrow blossoms	Compost
503	Chamomile	Chamomile blossoms	Compost
504	Stinging nettle	Stinging nettle shoots and leaves	Compost
505	Oak bark	Oak bark	Compost
506	Dandelion	Dandelion flowers	Compost
507	Valerian	Valerian flower extract	Compost

Healthy soils and crops are the foundation of biodynamic viticulture. According to adherents, if the microbiome of the soil is not healthy, the vine cannot get what it needs from the soil and can only survive with direct application of nitrogen. This "mainlining of nitrogen" prevents the vine from forming a normal healthy root system. Biodynamic viticulture seeks to "return the microbiome to a healthy balance so that the grapevine can return to its natural process of extracting what it needs from the soil." This makes for a healthier, stronger vine and more flavorful fruit and wine.

In viticulture, organic and biodynamic farming approaches were initially applied in the late-1960s with efforts focused on maintaining crop yields while improving soil fertility and reducing the use of mineral fertilizers. Today 316,000 ha of grapes are grown organically (4.55% of the global grape-growing area), with Europe (266,000 ha) being responsible for the lion's share. Spain, Italy, and France have the largest organic grape-growing areas. Worldwide, 11,200 ha of land are farmed, or are in transition to being farmed, under biodynamic principles.

Certification is available under both the organic and biodynamic farming regimes. There are a number of sustainability certifications but the challenge, according to Tablas Creek's Jason Haas, "is that the word 'sustainable' is not protected and people can claim it without doing much. These standards also have different standards and requirements and often do not set a particularly high bar." Ana Monforte Weitjers, whose business is built around sustainable vineyards, sees the concept as having become "almost a marketing gimmick."

Regenerative Agriculture

Regeneration International defines Regenerative Agriculture as

... a holistic land management practice that leverages the power of photosynthesis in plants to close the carbon cycle and build soil health, crop resilience, and nutrient density.

According to the organization, soil health is improved through practices that increase soil organic matter. These practices:

• Contribute to generating/building soils and soil fertility and health
• Increase water percolation, water retention, and clean and safe water runoff
• Increase biodiversity and ecosystem health and resiliency
• Invert the carbon emissions of our current agriculture to one of remarkably significant carbon sequestration thereby cleansing the atmosphere of legacy levels of carbon dioxide.

Terra Genesis International sees Regenerative Agriculture as a set of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. It aims to "capture carbon in soil and aboveground biomass, reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation ... at the same time it offers increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and ranching communities."

In contrast to the foregoing, the Regenerative Agriculture Initiative relies on "outcomes-based criteria," rather than prescriptive practices, to bound its system. The outcomes that it seeks are Healthy Soils, Healthy Ecosystems, Healthy Communities, and a Healthy Climate.

The practices that comprise Regenerative Agriculture are drawn from a number of parallel disciplines, as shown in the figure below.

Regenerative Organic Certified

The Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) is a "revolutionary" new certification for food, fiber, and personal care ingredients that has been developed under the auspices of the Regenerative Organic Alliance. Using the USDA Organic certification as a jumping-off point, ROC incorporates elements of Biodynamics and Permaculture into its Land Management corpus and extends beyond that sphere to cover Animal Welfare and Farmer and Worker Fairness. The organizing framework of the program was illustrated in the initial chart in the post.

The program completed its pilot phase in early 2020 (Tablas Creek participated in the pilot). The objectives of the pilot were to (ROA):

1. Develop a greater understanding of how standards can be implemented at the farm and ranch level
2. Provide information that would help to inform the creation of training materials, audit tools, guidance documents, etc.

The program integrates a set of existing standards with ROA protocols to arrive at its finished product. It should be noted that the framework shown at the top of the post is at the highest-possible level of classification; the actual practices extend a number of levels down in terms of detail and specificity. The chart below shows the key differences between the program's three levels.

The chart below shows the mix of the standards that are incorporated into the program as well as a potential timeline for an entity starting the process from ground zero.

Example roadmap
(Source: organicproducenetwork.com)

In commenting on the ROC, Jason Haas noted the following:

An important difference between ROC and the other initiatives is that it is outcomes- rather than process-based. In addition, there are things that ROC addresses that the other soil-based protocols like organic and biodynamic don't because they are focused narrowly.\; things such as resource-use reduction, animal welfare, and farmworker equity. The goal of ROC is to put in place a comprehensive gold standard for farming, from impacts to soils, resources, farm animals, and working communities.

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With this background in place, I will next turn to Tablas Creek's experiences adopting/adapting to the standard.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme